FairPoint adds jobs in Bangor, Portland

BANGOR – FairPoint Communications announced Friday it has added another 38 employees to its local call center at 59 Park St.

“We’ve met our hiring goals in Maine, but that’s not enough,” Gene Johnson, FairPoint’s chief executive officer, said at a press conference.

FairPoint bought Verizon’s telephone network in northern New England in March, and 88 percent of the company’s North Carolina-based business is now in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

With the recent new hires, the communications company has added approximately 63 positions at the Bangor call center since it took over.

FairPoint also announced Friday the addition of 57 new jobs in Portland at its southern Maine consumer and small-business customer call center.

Originally, FairPoint officials planned to create 675 jobs across all three states. They have exceeded that number and there are about 400 positions in Maine and 900 throughout the tri-state area.

Most of the positions already have been filled, but there still are some openings, Johnson said.

“These are good-paying jobs and benefits,” said Gov. John Baldacci, who attended the press conference.

Johnson and Baldacci reaffirmed their commitment to working together to promote economic development in the state. With manufacturing jobs moving elsewhere, Maine is becoming a service-provider economy, Johnson said.

“We want to be economic development partners,” Johnson said.

He estimated that FairPoint’s payroll contributes $19 million a year to Maine’s economy, and has a ripple effect on other local businesses of more than $33 million.

In addition, the company recently ordered $15 million in new vehicles, primarily bucket trucks, from auto dealers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Johnson admitted that the company has made some mistakes since taking over, but said it is determined to promote development in Maine, where technology needs sometimes are a hindrance to companies that want to locate here.

“We’re going to make mistakes,” Johnson said. “If we make a mistake, we’re going to work our you-know-whats off [to fix it].”

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